The List: 3 Jun 1994 (Issue 228)

THE LIST IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CAMEO CINEMA INVITES YOU TO AN EXCLUSIVE SCREENING OF

HERCULES RETURNS (15) on THORSOAY9JIINE AT 11.30pm

Tickets can he picked up from the Cameo Box Office from 11.15pm with a copy of this issue of The List on Thursday 9 June.

FREE BEER WILL BE SERVED IN THE BAR, PRIOR TO THE SCREENING.

CAM EOvae

CLASSICS FROM THE

FAR EAST

Chen Kaige’s deceptively simple fable Life On A String (lCA Projects, 15, £12.99) sets the story of two musicians - an impetuous youngster and his blind master - against the stark landscape of northern China. Capturing a spiritual wholeness that has been lost by the contemporary world, it highlights an inspirational sense of faith as the old man clings to the belief that his sight will be restored when he breaks the thousandth string on his instnrment. Kaige’s most recent work, the much- teted Farewell My Concubine (Artificial Eye, 15, £15.99), also receives its sell-through release. Much richer in scope and visual impact than Life On A String, it follows two Peking Opera stars from their early days of tortuous training through the political unrest of World War II and the Cultural Revolution. Personal iealousles and sexual rivalries play against a wider social backdrop and the vibrant world of the Opera.

supernatural love story that moves from llong Kong in the 30s to the late 80s. Anita Mui brings a touch of tragedy to her role as a prostitute searching eternity for her lover, with whom she entered into a suicide pact. Kaizo llayashi’s Circus Boys (lCA Projects, 15, £12.99) won the young Japanese filmmaker the coveted Chaplin Award for Best New Director at the 1990 Edinburgh Film Festival. The story of two boys brought up in the magic of the big top, it is even more spectacular for being shot in widescreen black-and-white. One boy remains with the ailing circus, the

. other finds trouble with a powerful Yakuza boss when he leaves to become a con man. This remarkable film — one of the most beautiful pieces of filmmaking in recent years - is a perfect exercise in cinematic poetry, gliding between fantasy and reality with all the skill of the trapeze artist. (Alan Morrison)

BIGGER

THAN THE

BRITISH

FILM INDUSTRY

A g; 2;. k BRITAIN'S BIGGEST BOTTLED BEER

I American Yakuza(18) As good a thriller as you're likely to catch in the cinema. and much better than some. as this video premiere combines the stylishness of the

Eastem action genre with Western plot concems. An American outsider inﬁltrates a Yakuza family in the States and is impressed by its sense of honour. Viggo Mortensen proves that he‘s not only good at nasty cameos (Curlim's Way, The Young Americans) but he can bring a thoughtful bent to the action hero in his own right. (Medusa/20:20)

I Friends (15) The themes of Elaine Proctor‘s

South African film are

just as relevant after recent political developments. because the emphasis is less on

topicality than on the emotional and psychological stress affecting those from different cultural backgrounds who aspire to living together. A black teacher, a white activist and an Afrikaans archaeologist ﬁnd their friendship stretched to its limits when terrorist activity disrupts their lives. (Tartan)

I Zazie Dans Le Metro (15) Electric Pictures‘ Louis Malle collection continues apace with this anarchic example of the Nouvelle Vague. At the centre is a sweetly foul- mouthed ten-year-old. who runs riot in Paris. sorely taxing her uncle. played by Philippe Noiret. in total contrast comes the downbeat Le Feu Follet (15), a masterful depiction of the social desolation and cynicism surrounding a recovering alcoholic. Malle‘s direction, the ﬁnest of his early period. and Maurice Ronet's performance wrench compassion for the bleakest subject matter. (Electric both £15.99)

I A Midsummer Night’s Dream ( 15. Dangerous To Know £14.99) The magic of Shakespeare‘s comic fantasy is perfectly

captured by Celestino Coronado in this colourful but stagey adaptation. Danced and acted by the Lindsay Kemp Company. it stars Kemp himself as a mischevious Puck whose Queer sense of humour would have the lovers paired not quite as The Bard intended. Coronado also turns his hand to Hamlet (15, Dangerous To Know £10.99) with a more inventive use of ﬂashed images and superimposed techniques. The physicality of the acting emphasises the latent sexuality in Shakespeare‘s text, particularly in the homo- erotic ﬁnal showdown between Hamlet and Laertes.

I Fascination (18) Redemption Video's unashamed love for tacky Euro horror now embraces the work of Jean Rollin. with this stylish tale of a thief on the run who holes up in a castle

with seven blood-drinking women. More delightful perversions can be found in Rollin‘s The Living Dead Girl (18). although the initial cliche of toxic waste resuscitating the corpse of a beautiful woman hinders the touchingly tragic story of a vampire lesbian zombie that follows. Forget the terrible effects and clumsy script. and enjoy instead the doomed eroticism. (Redemption £12.99)

I Le Jour Se Leve (PG) Rarely has the tragedy of one man's descent from ordinary citizen to hunted criminal been rendered so poetically as in this classic. made on the eve of World War 11 by Marcel Came. Jean Gabin gives a towering performance as the factory worker trapped in a tenement attic, whose story is told in ﬂashback. its sense of fatalism has never been equalled. (Connoisseur £15.99)